Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten
by OkitaSoujiro
Summary: Instead of meeting Kaoru in the days of the Meiji Era, it was in Modern Tokyo...in High School. This time, Kaoru is unaware that he is none other than the famous Hitokiri Battousai who escaped from the government. What will happen when she finds out? R
1. Himura Kenshin, the New Student

FP298: Greetings to all readers! Welcome to my third Fanfic – Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten. I hope you like it.

Drigon: If you like the author's Fanfics, click on the links below.

Betrayal? – A Flame of Recca Fanfic

What if? – A Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfic (Pending to discontinue)

FP298: Enjoy my latest Fanfic! Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin, any of the characters, or any other things related. The only thing I own is my idea for this Fanfic.

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**Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten**

By FallingPetals298

**Chapter 1 – Himura Kenshin, the new student**

It was a gloomy, dark morning. A dense fog shrouded the streets and roads of Tokyo. Everything was silent, except for the slow, rhythmic tapping of shoes against cement. A moment later, that sound blended with a much faster pit-pat against the cement.

A young girl, with raven colored hair and sapphire eyes in uniform sprinted through the streets of Tokyo.

Kaoru Kamiya was getting lost. And it was her hometown! She should know the streets quite well, but now she didn't know where she was. In her head, she mentally berated the fog for coming on a school day. The first day, in fact. She wanted to make a good impression on the teachers this year. Whipping her head left and right, she desperately searched for something that would point her to the general direction of her school. Anything, anything, her head screamed.

Not noticing there was young man walking in front of her, she crashed hard into his back and fell backwards, her books and bag scattered on the floor. Kaoru closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact, but instead found herself caught by strong, yet gentle, arms.

She opened her eyes to see her savior. She barely suppressed a gasp.

The young man who saved her had flaming red hair, tied back in a long ponytail, deep violet eyes, to which you could not see the bottom of, and strangely enough, a cross shaped scar marred his right cheek (from Kaoru's point of view), that rather, instead of taking away his looks, augmented it.

"Are you all right, that you are?" The young man asked.

"Y-yes." Kaoru managed to choke out.

He breathed a sigh of relief and pulled Kaoru to her feet. After doing so, he bent down to retrieve her scattered books and bag.

"This one is sorry for not moving out of the way when one heard someone running behind me, that I am." He apologized.

"Eh? No, no!" Kaoru shook her hands in front of her, flustered. "I wasn't watching where I was going. I should be the one who is sorry!" She bowed a few times repeatedly. "Gomen, gomen!" She heard a deep chuckle come from the man and looked up.

"This one is sorry to trouble you," He continued, when Kaoru looked up. "But I'm looking for…" He fished a paper out of his pocket. "Meisou High School, that I am."

Kaoru's eyes widened in surprise as she mentally smacked her head in her mind. 'Gah!' She thought. 'How could I be so stupid! He's wearing the school's guy's uniform!'

"That's the same school I go to!" She said out loud. "But I'm getting kind of lost because I can't see anything at all in this darn fog!"

He chuckled again. Then he held out a hand. Kaoru looked at it and blushed.

"This one is sorry for not introducing himself first, that he is. This one is Himura Kenshin, that I am."

"Kamiya Kaoru." She shook his hand. (Sticking to the Japanese system… last name goes first.)

"This one will be glad to lend you his assistance if you could point at the general direction of the school?" Kaoru haphazardly pointed northeast.

"Okay. Do you mind if this one picked you up, that you would?"

Kaoru looked at him weirdly.

"Believe me, it's faster that way, if you don't want to be late, that you will."

Kaoru sighed inwardly and accepted.

Quickly picking Kaoru up, Kenshin ran through the fog in the direction that Kaoru designated. The wind was moving so fast, that it stung Kaoru's face. She couldn't believe it. How could someone run this fast?

A few seconds later, before Kaoru realized, she was gently set down on her feet in front of the school. She gaped at the building. This was actually her school. She couldn't believe it. He picked her up and got to the school in just a few seconds. How was that humanly possible?

"This one is sorry for startling you, that he is, but this one needs to get to the office, that he does. Kamiya-dono, can you please tell me where it is, that you will?"

Still in a daze, she pointed to the building on the left side.

"Arigatou!" He smiled. Before leaving Kaoru standing there, still in a daze, Kenshin turned and said: "Kamiya-dono, this one thinks you should be heading to class or you'll be late, that you will." Bidding a sayonara and 'see you later,' he dashed off to the office.

Kaoru gaped after Kenshin, and stayed rooted to the same spot, still in a daze.

"Well, well," A new, feminine voice piped up. "Looks like Kaoru's got a boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend! Boyfriend!" Another happy voice answered.

That voice snapped her back to reality.

Kaoru turned herself around and snapped: "Shut up Megumi!"

Megumi giggled. She was a tall, beautiful teen, with long raven colored hair, which reached longer than her waist. Kaoru could've sworn fox ears popped out of her head. Her other friend, Misao, hyperactive as always, was bouncing up and down next to Megumi. Misao was shorter, but she was always cheerful and kept her hair in a long braid that also reached below her waist.

"Ohayo, Kaoru!" She greeted cheerfully.

"Ohayo…" Kaoru replied.

"Now tell us," Megumi asked. "Who… was that?" She pointed after the person who had already disappeared from their field of vision.

"New student. His name was Kenshin Himura… I think." Kaoru paused for breath, due to the fact that she was still absolutely shocked by what Kenshin did earlier. "He helped me out when I was lost in the fog."

"Helped you out?" Megumi snorted. "You're a life time resident of Tokyo and yet you got lost finding your way to school?"

Kaoru stiffened and as she was about to lose it, her two other friends showed up.

"Yo." The taller of the two raised his hand in greeting. He had brown hair that stuck straight up, and he always had a red headband on with the Japanese character "wicked" on it.

"Busu!" The shorter one screamed. He had spiky, black hair and ruby eyes. "You should've waited! Betcha got lost huh?"

There was a sudden flare in temperature. Sanosuke stepped away from Yahiko. In his mind, he knew Yahiko was a goner.

Kaoru dashed off to school and came back with a wooden stick. Sparing no time, she whacked Yahiko as hard as she could across the head.

"ITAI! What was THAT for busu!?"

Kaoru whacked him again. "If you stop calling me ugly, I'll stop hitting you!"

Yahiko was about to fire a response back, but he was saved from himself by the school bell ringing.

"You were lucky this time," Kaoru growled. They were all in the same homeroom, so they sped off towards the school together.

Kaoru and her friends arrived about 3 minutes before the second bell was to go off. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ms. Kaoru, Ms. Megumi, Ms. Misao, Mr. Yahiko, Mr. Sanosuke," The teacher, Mr. Uramura politely greeted. "Glad you could join us. Sit down. I'm amazed, Mr. Sanosuke," Mr. Uramura continued. "I was expecting you'd be just a few minutes late, just like every year."

Sanosuke grinned. "Old habits die hard, sir."

Mr. Uramura gestured towards their seats. "Go, go, sit. Now, I believe all of you have me for homeroom and first?"

The sea of students spread in front of him nodded.

"Okay, first we start with announcements, then I'll introduce the new student…" He muttered to himself. Even though he spoke softly, everyone caught wind of what he said.

'A new student?'

'I wonder if they're a guy or girl…'

'I hope it's a guy!'

'I hope it's a girl!'

Even though Mr. Uramura did not mention the name of the student, Kaoru had a pretty good idea of who was going to soon make his entrance.

Megumi leaned over and whispered, "You think it's the guy who took you to school this morning?"

"Probably," Kaoru replied.

"Hush now!" Mr. Uramura wagged his finger at them. Putting on his glasses, he scanned the paper he was holding.

"Okay, firstly, club activities sign up is next week," Mr. Uramura started, still looking at the paper.

Immediately, the conversation in the classroom turned from the new student to what activities they were going to sign up for.

"Hush, I said!" Mr. Uramura cut everyone off and silenced them. "Is it that hard to refrain from speaking when the teacher is?"

"Hai!" The class chanted in unison.

"Like Sanosuke said, old habits die hard!" A boy in the front called.

Grumbling, the teacher set down the paper. "There's nothing interesting in here… so I believe I'll call in the new student now."

Yet again, the tide turned on the conversation.

"Ooh, finally!" A girl whispered.

"I bet it's a girl!"

"I'll take you up on that bet." Some of the boys were betting money on whether it was a guy or girl. Majority bet on girl. Too bad. They just lost some money.

The door slid open, and the entire class held their breath as the student carefully walked in and stood next to the teacher's desk.

"Meet our new student. Introduce yourself, will you please?"

"Hai. This one's name is Himura Kenshin, and this one just moved from Kyoto, that he did. This one is glad to meet you all, that he is."

He lifted his head and smiled. The girls gasped. Naturally, they were shocked by the cross-shaped scar on his face, but also surprised at how handsome he was. Right on cue, the boys' faces twisted into jealous ones.

"Now that introductions are done, where to put you?" The teacher glanced around the room.

All the girls jumped at the chance.

"Mr. Uramura, empty seat here!"

"No, here!"

"Put him here, please?"

The girls were all yelling at the same time. Mr. Uramura, panicked, then searched around for empty seats besides the ones next to the swooning girls. He pointed at the empty seat between Kaoru and Sanosuke. "Right t-there will be f-fine, Mr. Himura."

"Arigatou, sensei."

The girls all turned to glare at Kaoru as Kenshin made his way to his seat. As soon as he sat down, Sanosuke launched into conversation.

"Hey, buddy, nice job! I doubt many guys could pull THAT off on their first day!" He clapped Kenshin on the back. "Oh, sorry. Introductions." Sanosuke stuck out his hand. "I'm Sagara Sanosuke, nice to meet you. Call me Sano, everyone does."

"Himura Kenshin," Kenshin politely answered.

"Oh yeah, gimme your schedule." Sano stuck out his hand for it. "I need to check your classes."

"Oro?" His innocent was confused for a moment, before a face of recognition graced his features. "Oh! Schedule! Right." Fishing into his bag, he pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Sanosuke. Sano stared at him weirdly before reading through his schedule.

"Social Studies… Math… English… Chemistry… Lunch… Sword Studies… P.E… Art… and Free Period." Sano muttered to himself. He instantly brightened. "Hey, you've got the same classes I've got! Same as Jou-chan (Kaoru), Megumi, Misao, and Yahiko, except the girls have free period during Sword Studies… and they take a different class during our free period. We're gonna be best buddies!" Sano clapped Kenshin on the back again, a little more forcefully, more than he thought, and smashed his face into the desk.

"Oops. Sorry."

"Mr. Sanosuke!" Mr. Uramura called from the front, chalk in one hand and a textbook in another. "Please don't kill my newest student on the first day!"

Kenshin raised his head from the desk, swirly-eyed and saying 'oro' several times in a row.

Mr. Uramura tapped his chalk on the board. "Now pay attention! We're doing current events for the first day, and I'm sure all of you have heard the latest news. What is it, anyone know?"

A girl in front shyly raised her hand.

"Ms. Minami?"

"Um… Battousai suddenly quit the army and disappeared?"

Kenshin's blood froze in his veins.

(Italics – Voice, Underline, Kenshin (thoughts)

'No, I must've heard it wrong,' He told himself, mentally slapping himself.

'_Your hearing is just fine, idiot.' _Another voice spoke inside his head.

'Gah! Who are you?' His mind jumped.

'_Idiot. I'm sure you already know. I'm your other self. And yes, your teacher did ask you to write about me.' _The voice continued in a cold tone. _'Listen to the damn teacher first.' _

Kenshin snapped back to reality.

"During this class, you are to start on a report about Battousai, to be handed in next class." Mr. Uramura was saying as Kenshin focused. He began scribbling on the board.

You will write a short paragraph on Battousai, who disappeared over half a week before to be handed in next class.

This paragraph must include at least three facts about him, and evidence that backs up those facts. You may work in a group or partnership.

"Well class? Hop to it!" Grumbling, students reached into their bag and pulled out a pad of notepaper.

Kenshin was froze up again as soon as it was confirmed he had to write about Battousai. If you looked closely, you could see he was shivering ever so slightly.

"Hey! Hey!" Sano waved a hand in front of Kenshin. "Man, I think his soul has left his body. Jou-chan, notice anything?"

Kaoru shook her head. "Nope. All that happened is that he froze up after hearing "Battousai."

"Kenshin! Hey, KENSHIN!" Sano was about to punch the guy in the shoulder when he snapped back to reality.

"Oro?" He took one look at Sano's face then instantly understood. "This one is sorry!" Kenshin answered, putting his hands together and bowing his head. "This one was spacing out."

'_Tsk. Even my late grandmother could think of a better excuse than that.' _The voice in his head continued.

'Shut up! Now how am I supposed to write about Battousai without giving myself away?' Kenshin's subconscious screamed, barely containing his anger.

In the real world, Kenshin was seriously creeping Sano out, as his eyes were changing from a deep violet to indigo, then almost amber.

"Okaaay…I think we'd better leave him alone for the time being." Sano turned away and began talking to Yahiko on his right.

In Kenshin's mind…

'_God! If you seriously can't write, then let me gain control for a minute then!'_

'I can't trust you not to kill anyone.' Kenshin crossed his arms.

'…_FINE!' _The voice exploded. _'Just your right hand, then!'_

'Even if its only the right hand, you could grab the sakabato in my bag, turn it over, and kill everyone.' Kenshin still had his arms crossed.

'_Please! Do you think I could get enough time to kill everyone by the time you've regained control over that ONE part of your body?' _The voice was getting agitated.

Kenshin pondered that for a minute. 'Fine.' He reluctantly agreed.

Letting his other self take control of his right hand, he felt him begin to scribble on the notepad. He closed his eyes. He had walked all the way from Kyoto. Hey, who wouldn't be tired if they didn't get a chance to rest?

Sano, hearing the scribbling, turned back to Kenshin, and found him sleeping while his hand was writing.

Megumi, Misao, Kaoru and Yahiko, all noticing the scribbling, turned away from their discussions to stare at Kenshin.

"Is… he doing what I THINK he's doing…?" Kaoru stuttered.

"Writing when he's sleeping? Yeah, I think so." Sano answered.

Gesturing at Sano and Yahiko to come over, Kaoru leaned in closer to Misao and Megumi.

"This morning…" She began when Sano and Yahiko had reached them. She told them the events that transpired earlier.

"Kaoru, are you sure?" Megumi furiously whispered as soon as she finished. "I'm in training to be a doctor, and I know that humans can't move that fast!"

"Need proof?" Kaoru pointed at her face. "I got cuts because the wind was moving so fast." Megumi leaned in and stared blankly at the cut. Sure, it was faint, but it was still there. She paled considerably. "Are you sure? Not something like tossing the knife up in the air while cooking and it accidentally cutting your face?"

Kaoru turned red at this statement. "I'm not THAT stupid!"

"Yeah, but your cooking is horrible anyway." Yahiko retorted. He barely made it out alive with a large lump on his head.

"Excuse me?" Their soft discussion was interrupted by Kenshin's sleepy voice. Everyone turned to look at him. He was still slumped forward in his chair, head on desk, but his hand was still writing nonetheless. "This one would appreciate it if you were a little softer. This one needs to catch up on some sleep lost, that he does."

"Sorry." They muttered in apology. As soon as they did, the scribbling noise receded.

"You're… DONE?" They mouthed, trying to control the urge to scream.

"Oro?" Lifting his head from the table, he stared blankly at the paper. Scanning it quickly, he stuffed the paper in his bag. "So it seems," was all he said before he slumped again.

Too bad for Kenshin. The bell rang a moment after that.

Lifting his head again grumpily, he was muttering to himself about stupid, loud bells and egotistical behavior before clearing his things and proceeded out the door.

Kenshin's new found friends glanced at each other before following suit. This was going to be one crazy day.

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FP298: Hope ya…-yawn- like this story. Next chapter might take a while… its late at night… and I'm sleepy. Normally I like to get a head start on the next chapter by writing a little after posting… but –yawn- I'll do it tomorrow. Night. –Grabs a stuffed bunny in Pjs and jumps into bed-

Drigon: … -Grumble- Leaving me to close everything up… -sigh- Next chapter is Math, More Battousai, and an Explosion (Better than it sounds.) Look forward to it.


	2. Math, More Battousai, and an Explosion

FP298: Welcome to the next chapter of Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten – Math, More Battousai, and an Explosion. Hope you will like it. Enjoy. And gomen ne, for the late response.

Dragonair: You like leaving me nothing left to do, don't you? Now I have nothing to say. -Folds arms and grumbles-.

FP298: -Ignores- Thank you for the huge response, minna, both in reviews and in story alerts. I'm glad you like this idea. Arigatou! -Bows-

Dragonair: Oh, so I have to do the disclaimer AGAIN, huh? -Sighs- Disclaimer: We do not own Rurouni Kenshin or the characters, just the ideas.

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**Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten**

By FallingPetals298

**Chapter 2 – Math, More Battousai, and an Explosion**

"Yo! Kenshin! Wait up! What's your hurry?" Sano called from behind Kenshin, accompanied by Kaoru and the others.

Quickly changing the fierce frown on his face to a sheepish expression, he turned to look at Sano and his friends. "This one feels like taking a break, so he wants to hurry to the next class to rest."

"Um... do you know that the building is THAT way?" Sano pointed in the opposite direction.

Kenshin stopped striding and gaped stupidly at Sano.

'How could I make a dumb mistake such as THAT?'

_'Hmph. It's just how you are. Stupid, idiotic, with no brains whatsoever.' The voice answered._

'Shut up already!' Kenshin growled.

_'Hey, is it my fault that I'm always absolutely correct'? His other self shrugged, a smirk on his face suggesting otherwise._

'No, you are most certainly not.' Taking the chance the moment his other self was off-guard, he conjured up chains and a very uncomfortable chair in his head. Shoving the voice in a chair, he quickly slid the locks around his scrawny body and locked it up with a padlock. Putting the key to the padlock on the ground, about a meter away, he stood up straight again and grinned.

'See if you can find your way out of these chains.' Kenshin grinned and exited his mind.

"KENSHIN!" He felt a smack on his head.

Swirly eyed and repeating 'oro' several times, he looked up into the angry face of Sano.

"Dude! I've been trying to get your attention for 5 minutes now!" He punched him in the shoulder.

"Oro?" Kenshin clumsily hit his head on Sano's locker door. Apparently, he was dragged by Sano to his locker before classes started. Sano yanked an EXTREMELY fat math textbook out, followed by a chemistry textbook.

'HOW can these students stand to lug those FAT reincarnations of devils around?' Kenshin screamed in his head.

'You know, your presence and screaming makes it harder to get out of this stupid chair, so shut up!' His other self yelled back. 'Now, LET me out of here!'

'Nope.' Kenshin replied, tone smug. 'Not until you admit defeat or if you promise to disappear forever.'

'How shameful. Me, Battousai, the man of legends, who is faster than the gods, losing to you? Never going to happen. And besides, this is my body too. Well, used to be. But that is not the point! I'd rather stay in here for the rest of the day.' His other self snorted.

'Oh, you would, huh?' Kenshin smugly departed his mind yet again. Before he left though, he heard Battousai scream his name.

As soon as he exited, he was greeted by a very agitated voice.

"Seriously, WHAT is wrong with you? You're spacing out, and its not even second yet!" Sano yelled at Kenshin again, eyes popping out.

"Eh, oro... this one is just exhausted?" He offered weakly.

"Yeah right..." Muttering to himself the entire way to Math, he entered the classroom and sat down with a plop in his seat. Just like homeroom, there was one empty space between Sano's seat and Kaoru's. Setting his bag down, he was met with a loud 'clang' that resounded throughout the entire room.

'Uh oh. Not good.' Kenshin gulped.

'See, this is what happens when amateurs don't know how to carefully handle or conceal a sword.' Battousai smirked. 'Why don't you let me out, let me take control, and clean up the nice mess you made?'

'I'd rather let a dinosaur run rampant than let you out ever again.' Kenshin answered, his tone icy.

'Ooh, not like that in school, eh? Besides, its not THAT bad... all you do is switch with me in these nice, comfy chains. How about it, huh?' Battousai finished, sarcasm literally dripping off his tongue.

'I'm not that dumb.' He exited his mind yet again.

At that moment, the Math teacher was calling roll. Lucky for Kenshin who had stopped spacing out in the nick of time.

"Himura Kenshin?"

"Present, sir." Kenshin answered, raising his hand like everyone else did.

"New student eh? Welcome to Math. I'm Tsukioka Tsunan, but you can call me Mr. Katsu." His teacher had long black hair, which he kept tidy with a headband, and he had extremely dark eyes.

"This one thanks you, that he does."

"Do you always speak in third person?"

"Hai, sensei."

"You're an odd one."

"Hai, sensei." Kenshin repeated in the same monotone voice.

After finishing up roll call, Mr. Katsu proceeded to the board.

"Now, today, we're going to go over the guidelines in this class... as well as a little extra work for not doing any math at all during the winter." Mr. Katsu smiled sweetly. (I believe the Japanese school system starts in January?)

The entire class groaned.

"Katsu-sensei!" A boy in the front groaned. "You do this every year! Can't we do something different?"

"Hm. Well, I suppose so." Mr. Katsu rubbed his chin. "Oh, I know!" A light bulb lit up over his head. "Instead of making you do the guidelines, I'll make you do math the entire class!"

Silence and death glares shot in the boy's direction ensued for a moment before it burst into a chorus of annoyed noises and crying of "Sensei!" or "You suck!" or the occasional "Quit already sensei! We hate you!"

"Aw, you hurt my feelings." Mr. Katsu said in mock sadness, placing his hands over his heart. He clapped his hands. "Let's get started! Chop chop! Whoever doesn't have at least 10 questions done by the end of class will stay after school with me. No complaints! Hop to it!" Leaving the board, he sat down at his desk and began typing rapidly on the computer. It was probably one of his articles for the school paper. Mr. Katsu was the head of the newspaper club… as well as a very large contributor of paranormal stories to the school paper.

Sano groaned and reached out to tug both Kenshin and Yahiko in the sleeve. "Hey, work together? Makes it faster." Yahiko nodded his approval, while Kenshin was hesitant. He gave in soon anyway, as Sano raised an angry fist.

Sano glanced at the textbook page. "Algebra word problems, huh?"

"Algebra?" Yahiko shuddered. "It's the subject I'm worst at! Stupid variables. Every time I do them before I sleep, I dream of x's and y's jumping around all night long!"

"Your fault." Sano turned to Kenshin. "Hey, Ken-..."

Sano was completely cut off and speechless by the time he saw what Kenshin was doing.

Scribbling rapidly in his notebook, by the time one sweep of his hand had passed, about four or five word problems were done.

Sano's lower jaw fell out. Literally.

"H-h-h-h-h-HOW THE HELL DO YOU DO THAT?!" Sano almost yelled, but he knew better, so he suppressed his voice until it was about a squeal. The squeal caught Yahiko's attention, and he stifled a laugh before Kenshin caught his eye. His eyes widened noticeably.

Mistaking the squeal to be a pig, Kenshin looked around. "Oro? This one could've sworn he heard a pig…" Not noticing Sano's glare, he turned back to the textbook. If glares could kill, Kenshin would've been dead 3 times over now.

"KENSHIN!" Sano and Yahiko yelled in his ear in unison.

"Oro?" Kenshin stopped scrawling and turned to look at Sano. "Yes, Sano?" He asked pleasantly. "Is there any trouble?"

"HOW CAN YOU DO THAT?" Sano asked in a furious whisper. In the background, Yahiko turned a furious red, because Kenshin not only forgot to include him, Sano was shoving him away with his elbow, in concentration of figuring what Kenshin had just did.

"Oro?" Kenshin looked at his notebook. He was almost completely done with the entire word problem section. "Oh, that? Well..."

_'What do I do!?__' Kenshin panicked in his head. __'Master said that math would help me make fast calculations during battles, but that was such a stupid lie! The point is, I can't tell him that Master threw math textbooks at me and made me home school myself! And he would always say, 'Kenshin, if you aren't done with all these problems in 10 minutes, you are going to get a lot of PAAAAIN!__' Kenshin squawked, imitating his Shishou's voice. (Note: Shishou means master.)_

_'Told you. But you didn't want to listen, did you? Your funeral, I guess.' The voice answered, who had patiently listened (cough...) in the warm comfort of his chains. _

* * *

Flashback

"_Hey, Kenshin." Hiko Seijuro, the 13__th__ master of the school of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu beckoned his young pupil over._

"_Hai, shishou?" _

"_Catch." Flinging a fat Math textbook at Kenshin, he sat down and as usual, sipped his sake._

"_Shishou?" Kenshin had an extremely puzzled look on his face. Since he had just started his training, the textbook had almost fallen on his foot. _

"_If you aren't done with 10 pages of problems in 10 minutes, you are going to get a lot of PAIN." His Shishou said sweetly. "Now hop to it!"_

"_Shishou..."_

"_What."_

"_I don't know how to do math."_

_His master gave him a very strange look before turning back to his sake._

"_Learn it yourself. They wrote all that stuff in the book."_

"_Didn't you have to do this while you trained, Shishou? You should know how to do them. Can't you teach me?"_

"_W-well, I want to see how you do on these." Hiko stumbled on the first word, but it was unnoticed by the redhead. "Now hurry up! I'll make it seven minutes if you keep dawdling. Start now!" _

End flashback

* * *

"Well?" Sano's voice snapped him back to reality. Apparently, he had spaced out for about ten awkward seconds.

"Eh, well..." Kenshin placed a sheepish grin on his face. "My teacher would get mad if this one couldn't finish 10 pages of word problems in 10 minutes..."

'Closer to the truth this time...' Kenshin told himself in his head.

But Sano, persistent as he is, went on.

"That doesn't explain THAT!" Sano clumsily pulled his phone out, almost dropping it in the process, and showed a video clip recorded on it to him.

Obviously, it was Kenshin. His arm moving so fast that you could see an after-image where it had just moved from. Kenshin rolled his eyes mentally, wondering WHY Sano would even want to record it.

"Eh he he he..." Kenshin laughed nervously, erasing the annoyance he felt. It was probably Battousai's feelings, Kenshin concluded. "This one doesn't think it is THAT fast..." He blurted out lamely, scratching the back of his head.

"WHAT? You can go FASTER than that?" Sano glared at Kenshin. "Are you some guy with training in swordsmanship? 'Cuz only swordsmen these days can move their arms THAT fast." He looked down at Kenshin. "Well?" He demanded, getting angrier by noting the fact that Kenshin was not even listening.

Unknowingly, Kenshin cursed in his head, and ignoring Sano's protests and complaints, Kenshin continued to work on the word problems. 'Why can't that guy use his brains when they are most needed and not for such TRIVIAL matters as this?' He thought to himself. He heard Battousai snort. Throughout the rest of the class, Sano just glared at the red head's shadowed face.

_Brrring! _

The bell had just gone off. Cheerful since the math problems were so easy and his sleepy atmosphere scattered, he whistled while gathering up his things. He showed his work to Mr. Katsu, who was waiting by the door, checking people's work and occasionally muttering 'You're staying after school, kid.' As soon as Mr. Katsu let his guard down (indicated by his jaw dropping about 10 cm lower), he ducked out the door and leaned against the wall, waiting for Sano to catch up to him.

When Sano finally exited the door, he was in a terrible mood because Mr. Katsu had made his stay behind to finish his problems after school. Naturally, he blamed it all on Kenshin.

"Your fault," Sano grumbled. "You just HAD to do that in front of me, didn't you? And then I didn't manage to do a single problem and Katsu-sensei says: 'OH Sanooo! You are staying after school with me!' in a stupid squeamish voice and..."

Sano's rant was interrupted by Yahiko crashing in his back from behind, with Kaoru, Megumi, and Misao trailing behind, chatting animatedly, apparently not having noticed Kenshin's act during math.

"Sano! You baka! You didn't wait for me and I got stuck with Girl Scout 101 behind us!"

"Be a man. It takes a real girl to hang out with them." Sano grinned, his sour mood immediately dissipating, laughing at all the imaginary scenarios in his head.

* * *

Scenario 1

**Yahiko was prancing around in a scout uniform, complete with a small beret and a wig with braids. **

"**Buy some COOOOOOKIES!" He squealed in a girly tone, waving a green, rectangular box around, cookies flying out as he did so. One hit home between the eyes of the vice principal.**

* * *

Sano cackled in his head.

"Oh yeah!" Yahiko considered his statement for a second. He chose to reconsider, obviously. "I mean, WHAT?!" Yahiko caught wind of what Sano said and began to attack him viciously, with imaginary fangs replacing his teeth and two pointy horns coming out of his head.

As Sano and Yahiko created a nice puffy smoke ball, fists emerging every once in a while, Kenshin, who watched from the side, sweat dropped awkwardly. Pausing a passing girl, he asked her where English was.

"English is down the corridor, and the first class to your right." The girl spoke softly in a monotone voice.

"Arigatou." Flashing a smile at the girl, and leaving Sano behind, he trod grimly down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

What he didn't notice however, was the girl's eyes boring in his cross-shaped scar on his face.

Yukishiro Tomoe blinked. "Himura Kenshin… I see." Turning on her heel, she followed the unaware redhead.

By the time Sano and Yahiko had stopped chewing each other's limbs off, the hallways were deserted. Just then, the bell rang.

"OH CRAP!" Yahiko and Sano jumped and madly dashed for the English room, which luckily for them, was extremely nearby.

No sooner than when they had sprinted in to the room and took their seats, panting heavily, did the teacher, Ms. Shura entered clumsily, dropping her glasses and books, scattering them all over the floor.

"Sorry class," she apologized gruffly, bending over to pick the objects up. She wiped her glasses carefully with a cloth, and put it in the case sitting on the table. She turned back to the class, careful not to drop the large textbook she was cradling.

"For some reason, Mr. Uramura and Mr. Katsu didn't let me leave the staff room…" She paused. "We heard a tremendous racket outside. It sounded like… Sano and Yahiko, but one can never be sure." She shrugged. "Mr. Uramura and Mr. Katsu were in tears and told me to wait for the racket to die down. Of course, I left immediately after that."

Snickers broke out across the room. The two were quite infamous for their ever-occurring fistfights, it seems.

"Ara, ara," Ms. Shura looked across the room, a small smile on her face. "It seems I was right after all, hmm… Sano?" Her eyes landed on Sano's red face.

"Umm…" Sano jolted straight out of his seat and bowed clumsily. "SORRY! SORRY! Don't kill me, Shura-sensei!"

More snickers passed around, and they glanced up at Ms. Shura. Much to their disappointment, she was smirking.

Apparently, for the students, smirking "I got you this time, but the next time you do it again, you'll be my next target." Ms. Shura was the leading teacher in the archery club, and quite a good one at that.

"Ara. I will excuse it for today." Groaning because of the weight of the textbook she was holding for so long, she set it down heavily on the desk. "Oof!" Reaching over, she snapped open her glasses case and pushed it on to her nose. Picking up a small piece of chalk in her hand, she certainly looked like a professional.

"So, students," She continued in relaxed tone, "I believe all of you know, I am Ms. Shura, or Shura-sensei. You don't need to know more than that, so I will get on with the work. Your assignment for today is to write about Battousai."

Kenshin's blood flow stopped, his eyes bulged, and on impulse, he kept whacking his head repeatedly with the palm of his hand. Quietly, of course. But Sano and Kaoru stared at him as if he were a madman.

"You stupid idiot! Why did you have to get so DARN famous?!" Kenshin was scampering around in his subconscious, where Battousai was still sitting in his chains.

"_Why, I take it as a compliment." _He leisurely looked at his nails, which were partially stuck out of the chains. You could say he looked like an amputee.

"You, sure! Me, NO! I'm getting sick of writing about myself!" Kenshin yelled, and he kicked at nothing. "That's it. I'm leaving. Stupid Battousai…" Kenshin grumbled as he left.

Still in his head, Battousai smiled evilly and said: _"So you acknowledge that I am you. That will make it all the more easier to break out and get back into the old routine." _(A/N: You'll find out about this later…)

"I'm sure that all of you have done this in Mr. Uramura's social studies class? You all have him for homeroom, yes?"

The students quietly answered.

"Marvelous. Get started." As soon as she finished, the scraping of a chair was heard. All the students, who were quietly murmuring, then turned to the direction of the sound.

A bishoujo was quietly (Bishoujo means "pretty girl") making her way to Ms. Shura's desk. She had very pale skin, and she wore her hair in a low ponytail, letting some of her hair fall forward to line the sides of her lean face. Gracefully bending over, she whispered something in Ms. Shura's ear.

Kenshin's memory received a jolt. It was the girl who he had stopped. Hence, he didn't notice how beautiful she was.

"Ah." Ms. Shura stood up and clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Who's the other new student?"

"Oro?" Kenshin looked up, and he immediately met the jet black eyes of the girl. "Um, sensei, are you perhaps talking about this one?" Kenshin raised his hand.

"Ah, yes, you." Ms. Shura snapped her fingers. "Since you are both new students, I would like you to sit next to each other, and possibly, just "hang out," whatever you kids do these days. Ms. Kaoru, may you please move next to Ms. Misao so Miss Tomoe can sit next to Mr. Kenshin?"

"Demo, Shura-sensei-!"

"No excuses. Move it or lose it. March!" She snapped her pointer at the unoccupied desk next to Misao.

Shooting a glare at Tomoe that went unnoticed by everyone but Megumi and Misao, Kaoru stuffed everything in her bag before shifting to the desk on the left of Misao.

"Arigatou." Ms. Shura sat down and began polishing the sharp points of her arrows.

As Tomoe passed Kenshin to sit next to him, Kenshin noticed a familiar scent. White plums. The one his mother used to wear.

Shaking the thought aside, as it brought too many painful memories, he extended his hand to the now sitting Tomoe.

"We've met, this one believes?"

"Hai." She said quietly.

"Pardon this one's rudeness. This one is Himura Kenshin, that he is."

"Yukishiro Tomoe." She said in an equally soft voice to before.

"Er… eto… so do you want to get started on the work?"

"Sure."

Flashing a grateful smile at Tomoe, he bent over to retrieve his notebook. But he didn't notice the impression on her face. A small smile graced her features, which enhanced her already beautiful face. Quickly switching back to her monotone face, she also reached in her back to pull out her notebook.

Three desks away, noticing Tomoe's smile, Kaoru was glowering profusely at the new student.

"What's wrong, raccoon?" Megumi said sweetly to Kaoru, knowing full well what was wrong.

"That witch planned it all along!" Kaoru whispered furiously, pointing accusingly at Tomoe. Misao was having much difficulty restraining Kaoru. "Lemme at her! Lemme at her!"

"She seems okay…" Misao let go of Kaoru five minutes later, having calmed her down.

"Sure, she SEEMS like it," Kaoru emphasized, obviously still mad. "But I have a bad feeling about her."

"You'll probably have a bad feeling about EVERY girl that gets near to Kenshin," Megumi retorted calmly, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm trying to get started on this so I have a small load of homework on the first day of school?" Comfortably leaning back in her chair for a few moments, she let out a sharp intake of breath. Picking up her pencil, she began to write.

Glaring at Tomoe one last time, who was having a great time with Kenshin, apparently, she bent over and followed suit. The sound of scrawling filled the air as the students, desperate for little homework on the first day, refused to break the silence. However, majority of the scribbling sound in the room was coming from three desks away. You guessed it.

Kaoru glanced around Misao and Megumi, and her eyes landed on Kenshin's arm, which was going faster than a speed she could comprehend. She wasn't the assistant master of a dojo for nothing, after all. Her eyes caught the slight bulging under Kenshin's the long sleeve of Kenshin's uniform. She narrowed her eyes. Something was off about Kenshin; more so with Tomoe. She felt her stomach sink but shoved the feeling aside. She didn't care what she was going to find; she was going to get to the bottom of this.

_Brrring! _

"Finally!" Sano jumped up among the other students who had already began packing up with relief and shoving their way out of the classroom.

"If you haven't finished it, do it for homework!" Miss Shura called loudly after them. In seconds, the classroom was empty, a paper flitting slowly to the ground in their place. She sighed. "They'll never change, those students."

"Chemistry next, man." Sano dragged Kenshin to his locker yet again. Sticking in his math textbook, he slammed it shut. "Lunch next! I can eat all I want and no one will stop me!" Kenshin sweatdropped as Sano began to plan the things he could eat, ranting on for about maybe 10 minutes. Then they noticed that the hallways were empty.

"Crap!" Sano cursed silently. Sano felt a hand close around his wrist and on instinct, struggled to get free.

"It's just this one." A familiar redhead's voice answered.

Sano looked at him questioningly, wondering why Kenshin grabbed his wrist.

"You'll understand later. Now where is the chemistry room?"

Sano pointed dumbly at the other building through the window. Suddenly, before he knew it, he felt air stinging his face and a stronger force dragging him along as Kenshin ran. His eyes widened in terror. 'What the hell?!' Sano yelled mentally. 'This was probably what Jou-chan was talking about this morning. He must have had some sort of swordsman training to go THIS fast… I'm ask later.'

They halted to a stop in front of the chemistry room.

"Is this the chemistry room?"

"Uh… yeah…"

Not sparing a second, Kenshin shrugged and slid open the door. Several pairs of eyes automatically landed on them. Realizing it was not the teacher, they turned back to each other and resumed talking.

"Lucky." Sano sighed in relief. "Shishio-sensei isn't here yet. That guy can really pack a punch."

"Well, Sano. You are early after all. I'm surprised. And you'd better saunter your ass to that empty table like your friend already did or face hell."

"Hai, Shishio-sensei…" Sano remained unmoving, until realization dawned on him. "EYAAAAAH!" He jumped and hit his head on the low ceiling. Snickers filled the classroom. "Itee…" Regaining his composure (not that he has any), he pointed a shaky finger. "S-shishio-sensei… how'd you get in so quietly?"

"Quietly?" The teacher cackled softly. "Your red-haired friend there was already moving when he heard the door slide open."

"Eh?" Sano glanced around the classroom and found Kenshin peacefully seated at an empty table. Growling, he picked up his bag and dragged himself over. "Kenshinnnnnn…" His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Aha ha…" Kenshin rubbed his head sheepishly. "This one forgot to warn you."

"Not a valid excuse, PAL…" He said sweetly. He cracked his knuckles. "I swear, you-"

"Trying to murder a new student, Sagara?"

"Hai, sensei." Sano answered automatically, still focused on Kenshin who was jabbing his fingers at behind Sano. "…" He set his hands down on the tabletop. "Shishio-sensei's behind me… right?"

"Glad you noticed." The bandaged man answered sarcastically.

"Gah!" Sano recoiled away from him.

"Relax, relax. I make it my PERSONAL policy to individually greet my new students." Ignoring Sano's quiet 'yeah, right,' Shishio extended a hand to Kenshin.

"I am Shishio Makoto. The chemistry teacher. Nice to meet you." He took Kenshin's hand and shook it, grinning evilly.

"This one is Himura Kenshin, that he is."

"Ha. Do you always speak in third person?"

"Hai."

"Hmm, hmm…" Shishio rubbed his chin. "This will be a FUN year…" He said, amused, rubbing his palm.

'What?" Whispers broke out from around the classroom. 'This is the first time Shishio-sensei hasn't burned anyone by accident! How is that possible?'

'That new kid, Himura… Shishio-sensei must like him to say that this will be a fun year. He hates all of us!'

"Shut up." Shishio stated calmly.

They all snapped to attention immediately.

"That's better…" He said as if taking to five year olds and not 16 year olds. "Now, if you all will flip to page 87…"

Kenshin's mind lost track of anything that occurred onwards. He was too busy conversing with Battousai.

'That man… Shishio Makoto…" Kenshin paced around in the darkness. "He has particularly strong ki for someone supposed to be a normal person."

Battousai snorted. _"If he isn't a normal person, he's a swordsman. Are you brain-dead today, or something?" _

"Shut up. I don't need that from you at the moment."

"Whatever. Anyway, better get back to the real world. Someone's going to call on you… and I actually like this body so I don't want anything happening to it."

Kenshin returned to reality.

"Himura. Would you like to give us a demonstration of this experiment, seeing as daydreaming is more important to you than passing my class?"

"Hai, sensei." Standing up, he made his way to the front of the classroom, where an experiment was set up. (A/n: I have no idea what happens in chemistry… so as not to say anything impossible, I will skip this part.)

_10 minutes later…_

Jaws dropped as Kenshin set up and completed the experiment in little over 4 minutes, using the remaining time to write the procedure on the board, explaining the quirks as he went.

"… if you boil for too long… let's just say, it won't turn out nicely." Kenshin finished.

"…" The entire class gaped at Kenshin's impassive face.

"I told you this class would be fun." Shishio grinned maliciously. "And… for the record, everything is perfect. Now get your butts to work. Himura here will help me and walk around."

Immediately, desperate fan girls (ALREADY?!) waved their hands at Kenshin, hoping he would walk over and help. Kenshin sweat dropped at the waving hands.

"Che. Fan girls." Shishio snorted. "Fine, Himura, go to that side. And no, this is not for you. Fan girls are the most annoying type in this damn school. Why the hell did I end up teaching, anyway?" Shishio muttered to himself.

Nodding, Kenshin walked down the left side of the room (which was the non fan girl populated area), and helped his not-as-bright-as-him classmates. Sano waved a hand at him.

"Yo, Kenshin. I'm stuck here." Kenshin sighed. He was getting sleepy from explaining things to overly stupid jocks and other people. He prayed that Sano was a little brighter, at least.

"Yes, Sano?" He walked over, trying to keep himself from falling asleep.

"So, I mix this, and this, and this, and this…" Without waiting for verification, Sano had already added them.

Kenshin rubbed his eyes and noted the color of the mixture. A liquid that looked STRANGELY familiar. He blinked.

"Sano!"

"What?" Sano turned to look at him as he was turning on the Bunsen burner.

"Don't…" Kenshin began, before he was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, do not begin the experiment without your lab glasses on." He pulled them down.

He struck the match and drew the flame closer to the Bunsen burner barrel…

(A/n: Again, I'm not sure about chemistry, so another skip.)

_10 minutes later…_

Sano was still covered head to toe in a strange substance.

"I was going to tell you, but you ignored me. Thankfully no one was hurt."

The fan girls nearby swooned. "He's sooo kind!" They chorused dreamily.

Ignoring the fan girls, he continued. "Even I have no idea what that substance is… but at least they proved it wasn't harmful to humans."

"Your fault, all your fault…" Sano was repeatedly mumbling.

"Ha ha, ba-ka." Yahiko chanted.

"Can't even take responsibility for your own mistakes, hm?" Megumi flicked her hair. "You're hopeless."

"Hopeless! Hopeless!" Misao chirped, jumping up and down.

"Seriously Sano, when will you listen to others?"

_Brrrrinng!_

"Ah. That's the bell for lunch." Shishio-sensei replied as PLEASANTLY as he could. He was keeping his teeth gritted in a fake grin. "Since Himura was the only one who got it, he gets no homework and he is free to go. The REST of you… WILL HELP ME CLEAN UP THIS MESS!"

Uh oh. He snapped.

"Sanoooooooooo!" The class cried angrily in unison.

Kenshin sweat dropped before bowing at Shishio. "Arigatou, sensei." And hurried out the door, either ignoring or oblivious to the glares directed at him.

Kaoru sighed. "I think I said it this morning, but I'll say it again. This is going to be one crazy day."

* * *

FP298: That took me so long! Sorry for not updating!

Dragonair™: Hah. I bet everyone's mad at you for not updating.

FP298: Gomen, minna! Bows Next chapter: Food Fights, and A Familiar Face. I will try to update as soon as possible. (Which will not be very soon, I promise you that.)


	3. Food Fights and A Familliar Face

**OkitaSoujiro:** Hey guys. I hope you liked the last chapter. Here's the next one: Food Fights and A Familiar Face. By the way, noticed my penname changed?

**Dragonair™:** Hey everyone! I'm OS' favorite Pokemon (next to Suicune, Articuno, Espeon, Vaporeon, Leafeon, and Glaceon who you will see in later chapters) and currently secretary for this chapter!

**OkitaSoujiro:** No need to get cocky now. Constructive criticism is expected and wanted, but no flames. Please read and review.

(A/n: I might make Tomoe a little OOC, sorry.)

Once again, I promptly apologize for the lateness of the update. I know what it feels like when a story you just want to keep reading doesn't get updated for a few months. (Not saying that mine is, unless you tell me so.) Also, my second story, Forgotten Memories under the Prince of Tennis category will have its second chapter changed. I can't decide how to continue on from Ryoma's -plah plah plah-. If you read the story, you know what I'm talking about. Please give me ideas! Thank you.  
De wa, this is chapter 3 of Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten. Please enjoy.

Oh yes, if the 'food fight' part of this story isn't as epic as you thought it would be, I am sorry. -bow- I humbly ask for your forgiveness. But besides that, please enjoy. :)

* * *

**Rurouni Kenshin: Rewritten**

By OkitaSoujiro

**Chapter 3 – Food Fights and A Familiar Face**

Deciding to hang around and wait for everyone to finish cleaning, Kenshin sat down against the wall of the Chemistry room and flipped through his assignment book.

**Monday –**

**Social Studies - Complete**

**Math - Complete**

**English - Complete**

**Chemistry – None**

Contented, he shut the cover of the book. Sleeping in his normal position (up with sword propped against shoulder), he shifted around to make himself comfortable before drifting off to sleep.

Feeling someone touch him, he shot up, his eyes glowing gold for a moment; an automatic reflex back from his days as the Battousai.

"Himura-kun?" A soft, yet monotone voice drifted into his thoughts.

Blinking sleep from his eyes, his vision cleared as he noticed a familiar figure staring strangely at him.

"Ah, Yukishiro-san." Kenshin bowed politely. "Sorry, this one was sleeping." He had not realized that Tomoe had caught the slight shift in his eye color.

"No need for such formalities." She answered. "Just Tomoe or Tomoe-san is fine."

"Aa. Tomoe-san." He stated, trying to get used to the name. "What time is it now, if this one may ask?"

"I believe it is already lunch time." Tomoe stopped and straightened. In that silence, several sighs of relief wafted through the slightly open sliding door.

"This is a lesson to all of you…" Shishio's pleasant voice came. "To be smarter… and to never let Sano be stupid again… okay?"

"Hai, Shishio-sensei."

"Repeat it 3 times. I want to be sure."

"Never let Sano be stupid again… never let Sano be stupid again… never let Sano be stupid again." The class chanted happily in unison, glad for the chance to bash their classmate who had kept them all in for 5 minutes into lunch.

Tomoe sweat dropped, but an amused smile graced her face.

"Hmph." A snort came from the teacher. "Dismissed."

"Aa. That's this one's cue." Kenshin stood up and brushed himself off. The door slid open and a grumbling group of students filed out. At the very back were Kaoru, Misao, Megumi, Yahiko, and a Sano with a very moody expression.

"Many thanks to Shishio-sensei." Sano stated sarcastically. "Now everyone hates me…" He continued, trailing off, with puppy dog eyes.

"It's okay, Sano." He pet him on the head.

"Thanks, Kenshin…" Sano froze for a second. "Wait. Kenshin… YOU!" He suddenly fired up and pointed in his face. "YOUUU ARE THE CAUSE OF MY MISERRRYYYYYY!" He said, extending each word like he was a zombie. "I KILL YOUUUU…" He began again, imitating Achmed the Dead Terrorist. "ITE!" He cursed at the person who had smacked his head with a textbook. "FOX LADY! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

Kenshin, who had backed off a safe distance, watched with Tomoe as the fight unfolded. They both sweat dropped. Kaoru, who noticed Tomoe, inwardly seethed as she discreetly glared at the bishoujo.

"That, Sano…" Megumi paused to shift a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "-was because you fail to see your stupidity, and that it was your fault that everyone had to stay behind. Why am I lecturing you? It's not like it will get through your thick skull, anyway." Megumi concluded by herself, ignoring the fuming Sano.

"FOXXXXXX!" He growled, almost lunging for Megumi, but composed himself, knowing not to hit girls. He was a gentleman, after all.

He straightened his school blazer and cleared his throat. "Okay, okay, fine."

GROWWWWWLLLL…

Surprised, everyone looked around for the source of the noise. To their surprise (not.), Sano was quietly rubbing his stomach. "I only agree because I am STARVING. Now can we go eat? And invite your little girlfriend, Kenshin."

Both their cheeks were tinged a slight pink. Kenshin cleared his throat awkwardly. "Eto… ano…" Kenshin glanced around nervously, his pores oozing nervous sweat. "Ahaha, Sano, so, what do they sell in the school cafeteria?"

Sano, being the senseless idiot that he was, took the bait. His wry grin slid off his face, now replaced by a disgusted expression. "Oh, that crap? Jeez, it's not even worth eating, and that's saying something, after we half died from Jou-chan's cooking-" Poor, poor Sano. He must really have a death wish.

"Yeah, I just had the misfortune to be stuck with after training, when there was a thunderstorm." Yahiko shuddered. "She had to cook for me-"

Yahiko too.

A vein popped noticeably in Kaoru's head as Sano walked side by side with Kenshin, talking about the horrors of Kaoru's cooking. Yahiko nodded vigorously next to his taller friend. Kenshin, of course, noticing Kaoru from his peripheral vision, started backing up inconspicuously, step by step away from Sano and Yahiko, praying for their safety.

"-and did you know, whatever she cooks, it ALWAYS turns black? I swear, she crushes charcoal powder and adds it in the mix. I mean, seriously. I think she wants to poison us or something-"

A crack was heard audibly in the background. Sano, disturbed by the noise, turned around slowly, swallowing a gulp as an oppressive aura surrounded him.

"Uh oh… Jou-chan, please don't kill me!"

By now, Kaoru's eyes had turned a ghastly red, which reminded Kenshin all too much of blood. Fires and flames danced all about her small, but toned form as a low rumble rolled in the sky, signaling impending doom.

BOOM!

* * *

**Scenario 2**

"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" A chibi Yahiko and Sano disappeared from the exploding school ceiling and flew off into the sky, only becoming one dim glitter before vanishing into the sun.

**End Sano and Yahiko's Mind Theater part 1. **

**

* * *

**

"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH- huh?" Sano and Yahiko stopped yelling in unison, covering their heads in fear, when they realized that it was easier to breathe.

"Yay! We are saved! We are saved!" They dropped to their knees and worshipped a trashcan. "Thank you, almighty trash can, for saving us, although we have no idea why we are doing this and how you saved us!" They half sang and sobbed, smashing their foreheads repeatedly in the ground, their arms lifting up and down with every grovel.

"You're on your own, boys." Megumi coolly walked off, Misao tagging along happily, both traumatized by the pure idiocy they had just witnessed.

"Though, I wonder, why didn't Jou-chan murder us like she always does?"

"I wonder…"

"EH, WHO CARES!?" They screamed in each other's faces. They linked arm in arm and skipped off like girls to the cafeteria. Following after Megumi and Misao, and Kenshin and Tomoe, who had long left before the explosion.

"This…" Shishio grinned creepily. "Is going to be… GREAT blackmail." He smiled maniacally, lowering the camera he had in front of his face not a second ago.

What Kenshin and co. did not notice, though, is that they left a heartbroken, dumbstruck Kaoru, staring after them. Why is she so shocked? Let us see.

* * *

**Flashback**

By now, Kaoru's eyes had turned a ghastly red, which reminded Kenshin all too much of blood. Fires and flames danced all about her small, but toned form as a low rumble rolled in the sky, signaling impending doom.

BOOM!

"_Ah, watch out, Tomoe-kun!" As an incoming lightning bolt almost struck her, he pulled her a little too quickly from her previous spot, where she accidentally slipped on her feet and tripped. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the impact. However, she did not expect to land on anything soft._

"_Eh?" Tomoe opened her eyes. _

_A wide-eyed, flustered Kenshin stared back into her eyes, bewildered. _

"_Ah!" She quickly withdrew himself from his grip, almost falling down again in the process. "I'm… I'm sorry." _

"_I-it's fine." Kenshin stammered, suddenly finding the hallway interesting, glancing nervously at anything but her face. Gesturing in the direction that they were walking in, Kenshin smiled. "This one is quite famished. Could you kindly direct this one to the cafeteria?" _

"…_sure." Tomoe patted his shoulder. "You sound very strange when talking in third person." She giggled behind her hand. 'This will be an interesting school year…' She inwardly thought. She put on a shy smile. "This way-" She tugged gently on his arm._

"_Ah, arigatou." Kenshin smiled sincerely, before following Tomoe to the cafeteria._

_And this happened in the space of 30 seconds, which is the reason why Sano and Yahiko began worshipping a trash can, having avoided inevitable doom. _

_**End flashback**_

_**

* * *

**_

However, since Kaoru is a strong woman, she recovered from her initial shock before punching the air in front of her. "I'm not going to give up!" She resolved, before speeding after her friends. "Wait for me!"

Thankfully, since Kenshin and Tomoe had departed early, they had gotten a table for everyone else in the overcrowded cafeteria. Lines were packed closely together, and there were still more students and faculty flooding in! Enter their next problem.

"Ah, crap. Lunch is only about 30 minutes…" Sano said, scratching his head. "We should've came here earlier…"

Megumi and Kaoru both shot him a look that said 'And whose fault is that?!'

"In any case," Sano fumbled on, pretending to be oblivious to Megumi and Kaoru's stares, "-I think the girls can get their lunch when they have their free period, which is next, but man, I don't think I can hold out till eighth period!" The growl returned as testament to this.

"Hmph, I don't mind." Megumi looked in any direction other than Sano's face.

"Ah, Tomoe-san," Kenshin suddenly asked, "-when's your free period?"

"Ah, I'm afraid I already had it…"

"Is that so?" Standing up from his seat, Kenshin turned to face everyone at the table. "Well, this one will be off to get lunch for everyone. This one shall return in about 5 minutes with lunches." And so he cheerfully walked off, leaving everyone who was familiar with the school's nature to gape at his back.

"H-hey, wait, Kenshin!" Sano yelled after him.

"Oro?"

"Can't you plainly see it's lunch hour?! Even if you went to wait, you wouldn't get our lunches anyway!"

"Are you not hungry?" The red-head blinked. "That's why I'm getting lunch."

Sano's jaw dropped even lower. "AND PEOPLE CALL ME SO THICK-HEADED ALMOST TO THE POINT OF BEING DEAF!" He groaned in exasperation.

"You are thick-headed almost to the point of being deaf." Megumi and Kaoru deadpanned from behind him.

Sano twitched, and resumed yelling, pretending he heard nothing. "OI! KENSHIN! DIDN'T YOU HEAR ME?!"

"This one did. But this..." He gestured to the line as if it was the most typical sight in the world, "-is no problem." With that, Kenshin's form wavered and vanished, appearing at the front of the colossal queue in less than 3 seconds, prompting his friends to almost pop their eyeballs out in amazement. Many of those in the front of the line were startled by his sudden appearance, but shook it off as a figment of their imagination, not thinking that someone could materialize in the middle of a crowd fighting for food.

"W-what… what the hell?!" Sano looked like a fish, his mouth opening and closing.

_It's no mistake, _Kaoru thought inwardly. _He's a swordsman. Or used to be, in any case. _Her eyes narrowed. _What are you hiding from us, Kenshin? _

"Hey!" A large, bulky student called obnoxiously from the middle of the line. He towered over most of his fellow classmates. "OI! YOU! REDHEAD!"

"Oro?"

"Oh no." Sano groaned. "He's in trouble now. That's Hiruma Gohei. He got one of the teams suspended last year because he beat up one of the players from the other team."

"What might you want with this one?" Kenshin said pleasantly, yet loudly enough for Hiruma to hear. He balanced four trays, laden with food, on both arms, 2 on each arm.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF THE LINE, SHORTY!"

"Oro?" Kenshin look over his shoulder and tilted his head innocently. "Isn't it first come, first serve?" His eyes flashed gold. _**"Or are you just looking for someone to beat up?" **_

Hiruma shivered noticeably, put off for a few moments before he continued. "Y-YOU LITTLE-!" He snatched one of the cafeteria's glass plates from another student's tray, and with surprising accuracy, threw it at Kenshin's head.

"KENSHIN! WATCH OUT!"

The sea of people around him, who had been alerted, screamed and ducked as they watched the plate soar towards Kenshin. Despite warnings, to their surprise, Kenshin did not move, letting the plate hit his head with a 'thwack' as it shattered into several tiny pieces.

"Daijobu desu ka?" Kenshin asked the girl in front of him kindly. She shook her head timidly as she watched him in awe.

_So that's why he didn't move his head... _Kaoru observed.

Kenshin turned around to stare coldly at Hiruma before he did what one would deem impossible.

Kenshin narrowed his eyes for a moment before snapping them open with terrifying focus as he threw the four trays lying on his left and right arms upwards. He then proceeded to catch every shard with god-like speed, finding the time to send them all – accurately - into a trash bin nearby before catching and balancing the trays on his arms once more, not a drop of liquid on them spilling.

His eyes returned to their normal size, and he smiled before walking to the cashier to pay for the food. Blood dripped from the back of his head, but Kenshin seemed unfazed as everyone stared.

The crowd, which is to say, everyone in the cafeteria, especially those near him when the plate was thrown, began to clap and shout cheers of 'Sugoi!' or 'Kakuii!'

One of the P.E teachers, a violence hater, Yukyuzan Anji, who had a personage much like a Buddha as well as a large stature, pulled Hiruma out of the line and silenced him with a stern look before marching out of the cafeteria, tugging the student's arm painfully.

Kenshin strolled back over to his table a hero, as he had pulled off the miraculous feat of getting the food – as he said he would. Sano had clapped him on the back, sheepishly saying that he believed that Kenshin would've been able to pull it off anyway, despite him yelling at him not 5 minutes before.

"Kenshin, that was cool!" Misao chirped. "How'd you do that?"

Kenshin froze mid-bite. "Do what?" He asked nervously. The question that he had been trying to avoid.

Immediately he was shot down by four suspicious looks.

"You know what she's talking about." Sano, Kaoru, Megumi, and Yahiko said in unison.

"N-no, I really don't-"

Kaoru slammed her hands down on the table. "YOU KNOW WHAT SHE'S TALKING ABOUT. Only a trained swordsman could've pulled that off! Not even a handful of dojo masters can do that these days!"

"Ahahahaha..." Kenshin scratched his head. "Ow..." Then he remembered his head injury. He stared at his hand. A fair amount of blood was present.

"And how can you be so calm as if nothing happened?" Megumi demanded. "A glass plate hit your skull and only NOW you notice it?"

"Ahahaha... this one has gotten worse injuries before-"

"WHAT?!" Whoops. Bad time to say that.

"Ken-san..." Megumi approached Kenshin before pulling up the sleeve of his school blazer.

"Chotto, Takani-san...!" He was too late as his numerous scars from obtained from serving in the army was revealed to the group. Tomoe could not stifle a gasp. Thin, white hued lines ran in all directions up and down his arm, contrasting strongly against his slightly tanned skin.

"These scars..." Megumi looked furious. "This degree of scarring..." Everyone knew what she meant.

_Uh oh. _Panning his vision left to right as he saw the expressions of the suspecting party turn into murderous ones.

"Um..." _I need a diversion, I need a diversion, I need a diversion... _He chanted in his head, mindful of the snort that accompanied it.

Kenshin must be one lucky guy.

"Excuse me." A tall, dark-haired senior sauntered over to his table. "If I might intrude?"

"O-of course, senpai!" Their polite instincts kicking in, they stopped Kenshin's interrogation. Misao was drooling at the sidelines, hearts in her eyes. "Aoshi-sama..."

"Um..." Misao's obsession unerving him slightly, he did his best to ignore it as he faced Kenshin. "I'm Shinomori Aoshi. I'm the captain of the Oniwabanshu Various Martial Arts Club."

"Oniwabanshu..." Kenshin turned the name over in his head until he remembered why it sounded familiar. "The group of ninjas that was established to provide information and other things in the late 16th century?"

"I see you know your history." Aoshi commented dryly. "That maneuver you pulled off was no easy task. I'm scouting and recruiting for the club. You would be a great boost to our club's morale in the competitions. After all," Aoshi gestured around the cafeteria, "-everyone has witnessed your skills."

"I'm sorry, but this one will pass on that generous offer. Thank you though, senpai." He bowed. "This one is not looking to join any clubs at the moment. I have a situation that I need to take care of at the moment. But if senpai would be so kind as to keep the offer open, I might join later this year."

"Hm." Aoshi nodded. "Alright, come and find me once you have that resolved. The offer will be open anytime from now until the beginning of the district tournament – which will be in 1 month." He walked off.

"Haha, Aoshi-sama kakuii~..." Misao squealed dreamily. Aoshi shivered noticeably, feeling the gaze bore into his back as he walked away.

"Well," Kenshin set down his chopsticks, "-this one is done with lunch, so if you'll excuse me-" Kenshin made to follow after Aoshi before a hand grabbed the edge of his sleeve. "Oro? Tomoe-san?"  
"S-sorry..." Tomoe withdrew her hand and placed it on her lap, not offering any explanation as she kept her head bowed.

"Oro..." Kenshin looked as if he was going to make a move to comfort Tomoe, but terrible timing made the bell ring at that moment. "Tomoe-san, if you'd like, I'll take you to your next class?"

"Arigatou."

Kenshin helped Tomoe up and disappeared from the group's sights as they exited the cafeteria.

"I really, REALLY..." Kaoru seethed, "-hate that seductress."

"Blame your personality and appearance for the fact that the only first real crush of your life doesn't like you back." Megumi interjected smoothly. She picked up her messenger bag. "If you'll excuse me, I'm off to the library. I want to finish this homework. I've got more apprenticeship training after school today. Are you coming, Misao?"

"I'm going to go to the club..." Misao said cheerily. "Okina said he was going to teach me something cool. I have to impress Aoshi-sama! JA!" The hyper-active raccoon snatched her bag off the table and sped off, leaving a trail of dust behind.

"Mataku..." Megumi said, amused. "That girl never stays in one place for long." She too left, leaving Kaoru in an almost deserted cafeteria.

"Might as well go to the club to train..." Kaoru said to herself, sighing. "I have a class today..." Her thoughts drifted back to Kenshin. _All I've done almost all day is think about him... _His smiling face appeared in her mind. "ARGH!" She suddenly yelled, startling the remaining inhabitants of the cafeteria. _What am I thinking? I've got other things to do right now! _Slinging her backpack on her shoulder, she stomped off, mentally berating herself. Kaoru allowed one last thought about the red head before she pushed it out of her mind. _I don't care about people's pasts... but something about Kenshin bothers. me Come hell and high waters, I'm going to find out soon. _

_

* * *

_

"Well then, Tomoe-san." Kenshin gestured to the class. "Is this it?"

"Arigatou, Himura-san." Tomoe said softly.

"This one is sorry if I upset you earlier." Kenshin replied sheepishly, scratching his head as he recalled the look on her face.

"Don't worry about it. Just... just some memories I want to forget."

"Ah. This one won't ask further then. See you tomorrow, Tomoe-san."

She inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement before sliding the door open and entering her class.

"Now that Tomoe-san is in class..." Kenshin attempted to remember the directions Sano gave him.

"Oro...?" Kenshin stared down a long hallway of identical looking doors. "Ah... which one..." A sudden tingling feeling passed through his body for a moment. _What...? _An unseen force pressured him. Kenshin whirled his head around, looking for the source of that strong, _familiar _ki.

"Oi, baka deshi, what do you think you're doing still wandering the hallways? Class is about to start." A deep, authorative voice from behind him froze him in place. Hoping it was not who he thought it was, he turned around slowly.

Alas, his luck took a downturn.

In all his glory, Hiko Seijuro, the current master of the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu AND Kenshin, loomed over Kenshin, his presence almost engulfing him.

"Ahahaha... nice to see you again... shishou..." Kenshin's voice shrunk with every word. Hiko narrowed his eyes. The temperature went down several degrees. "That's all you have to say after deserting your training and running off the join the army, eh? That's why self-righteouness does you no good. You've probably learned your lesson by now."

Kenshin bowed his head in shame and respect. "Hai, shishou..."

Hiko gave him a strange look. He cuffed the back of Kenshin's head gently, eliciting an 'ow' from Kenshin. "Go get that looked at, baka deshi. I don't want you dripping blood all over my classroom floor."

"Hai, shishou..." He obediently turned and walked in the opposite direction, intending on heading to the nurse. "WAIT. WHAT?!" The last of his master's words finally registered in his head.

Hiko grinned wickedly. "Oh, you didn't hear me wrong. Except now I'm known as Hijikata-sensei of Sword Studies. See you in class, baka deshi." He laughed evilly the entire way, earning a sweatdrop from Kenshin.

"Uh oh." Kenshin mumbled to himself the entire way to the nurse. "Shishou as my teacher? This cannot be happening. No, no, no, no, no, no..."

_So, that's your master, huh... _Battousai observed from Kenshin's mind. _I want to cross swords with that man. He is a formidable opponent._

'Are you insane? He's the one who taught me this style in the first place! What makes you think you can defeat him?' Kenshin asked incredulously.

Not you. Me. Another voice echoed from deep inside Kenshin's subconscious.

_Shinta...?_ Battousai and Kenshin asked, surprised, at the same time.

* * *

By the time Kenshin had walked into the office and gotten patched up, earning a lecture from the nurse as he did, he was no longer consciously moving. The door slid open, and Hiko – Hijikata now – looked up and saw Kenshin staring at him with a eerily calm face, his eyes a tawny brown hue, unlike the sharp amber of Battousai's eyes.

"Oi, Himura, have you gotten that looked at?" He asked gruffly.

Shishou... Hiko heard a soundless murmur of his title. Hiko blinked. What was... A memory flashed in front of him. A little red-headed boy was swinging a shinai happily.

Hiko shook his head as if to clear it. "Take your seat." He grumbled, as if nothing had happened.

Kenshin blinked, and the brown disappeared, replaced with Kenshin's normal violet. "Hai, sensei." Kenshin plopped down in an empty seat next to Sano.

"Oi, Kenshin," He whispered, "Why'd sensei space out like that? You know him or something?"

"No, this one doesn't." Kenshin answered normally, before promptly politely ignoring Sano and his other quesitons.

"Geh." Hiko stood up. "I'm Hijikata. I'm your teacher for Sword Studies. As you should know, for some reason or another, the government installed this class as a core, and mandatory. Probably because they want to draft some of you for the army, what with the social instability and all. Kind of stupid, but whatever." He said, bored. Everyone sweatdropped. "I'm not here to teach you how to use a sword, but on the different sword styles there are available. As a long term project, you are to research one of these styles, learn it, and present it in a sparring demonstration at the end of the year for a grade." The students began murmuring excitedly amongst themselves.

"Shut up." Hiko said curtly. The class silenced. "Punishment for talking during class is 100 sit ups and 100 pushups with textbooks on your backs. No girls take this course because the government also likes to be sexist bastards."

(A/n: This is purely a work of fiction. Any insults to anything or anyone that really exists is only a figment of my imagination in this story, and should not be taken literally by anyone.)

This earned a few snickers from some of the guys in the class.

"Yeah. Whatever. So, who already has a style?"

To everyone's surprise but Sano's and Hiko's, Kenshin was the only one who rose his hand.

"What style?"

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu."

_Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu...? _Sano echoed in his head, tossing the name around. _That sounds familiar... one of oyaji's files, maybe...? _

"Hmph." Hiko pretended to note it down. "Alright, the first style we are going to research is-"

And so the class of Sword Studies, which would soon be Kenshin's favorite subject, began.

(A/n: I know nothing about Sword Styles (except the Tennen Rishin Ryu) and I should research them and add it in to make this interesting for you, but this chapter is already extensive enough... ahaha...)

* * *

"Hey, Kenshin. Class is over. Let's go." Sano was waiting at the door while Kenshin was still placing his papers and books back into his gym bag.

"You go ahead Sano, I'll catch up. There's something about the curriculum that I wanted to ask Hijikata-sensei about."

Sano sent him a weird look. "Okay..." He walked out, waving a hand behind him.

"What, baka deshi?" Hiko said roughly.

"Shishou, Shinta says hello." With that, Kenshin darted out, an impassive Hiko staring after him. But Kenshin knew what that face masked.

"Shinta, huh..." Hijikata leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the desk. "Its been a while since I've heard that name." He stared out the window.

"Man!" Sano flexed his arms and patted his stomach. "Hijikata-sensei is brutal!" Sano had made one too many attempts to talk to Kenshin before Hiko had snapped and made him do push ups and sit ups.

"Maa, you were talking during class..." Kenshin answered sheepishly, the peacemaker he was.

"Well, next class is P.E. We're almost done with the day." Sano said cheerily, in such a good mood despite the punishment Hiko made him go through.

Kenshin, being as observant as always, was naturally affected. "Um, Sano? Did something good happen while I was gone?"

"Oh, no. Its just that the teacher we have next is totally awesome and also totally hot." Sano said dreamily.

"Um..." Kenshin took a few steps away from Sano as he swooned like a fan girl.

Sano, not noticing, continued his rant about the P.E teacher. "I swear Kenshin, when you see her, even a guy like you will automatically fall in love with her."

Kenshin stared at Sano, a little afraid, not seeming to realize the insult entailed with "even a guy like you".

They walked into the gym, where a group of students was already gathered, gossiping and chatting loudly. Yahiko, Megumi, Kaoru, and Misao were already waiting, still in their school uniforms as they waited for their teacher to arrive and give instructions. Kenshin hurried over to them, a little eager to get away from the obsessed Sano.

"Oh, so Sano told you about sensei." Misao looked not the least bit taken aback. "Even all the girls here admit that sensei's in a different league, even if they are the biggest snobs in the universe." Misao chirped.

"**What do you all think you are doing?" **Kenshin shivered as a _ki _loaded with fury washed over him. **"Shut up and get into line." **A tall, long-haired teacher dress in a _gi _appeared from the office, his face set into an eternal glare.

"H-hai, Hijikata-sensei!" Everyone chorused automatically, gulping, as they all placed themselves in neatly arranged lines.

"Hijikata?" Kenshin leaned over to ask Sano.

"Oh yeah, same name as Sword Studies Hijikata. They aren't related. Though they really could be..."

"**Sagara! New kid! Drop to the ground and give me 100 push ups!" **

Sano groaned. "See what I mean?"

A pleasant, chime like laugh wafted over from the direction of the office. "Maa, Hijikata-san, you don't have to be so strict!"

"Okita-sensei!" The class cried out in relief. A female teacher in a _gi _strode over gracefully, her long, dark hair held up in a high ponytail. She was the opposite of Hijikata, an eternal smile etched on her face.

"Sagara-kun, don't worry about it. Just get in line." She said gently as she brushed past them to stand next to Hijikata. She whacked him on the shoulder gently. "Mou, you need to be less tense, Hijikata-san."

"Whatever, Saki."

Her laugh filled the empty gym again. "Most of you know me, but for new students, I'm Okita Saki. And this guy is Hijikata Toshizou. Nice to see everyone again! I hope we have a great year." She sent a knowing smile in Kenshin's direction and he immediately knew that she knew his secret.

* * *

**OkitaSoujiro:** Bahahaha! I think from my PenName, you can guess why I put Okita in here! Fem Okita FTW! :D I'm going to use her as sort of the 'sheath' for Kenshin, not in Tomoe's kind of way, but someone he could talk to. -squeal- I can't wait!

**Dragonair™:** Yup. Look forward to the next chapter: And this Insane Day Finally Comes to an End. The next secretary will be Suicune™. See you soon!


End file.
